[1/4] Spain's King Felipe, Queen Letizia, and Infanta Sofia accompany Princess Leonor as she begins her three-year military training at the General Military Academy in Zaragoza, Spain, August 17, 2023.
REUTERS/Vincent West Acquire Licensing RightsZARAGOZA, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Spain's Princess Leonor, the heir presumptive to Spain's throne and anticipated future commander-in-chief of its armed forces, began three years of military training on Thursday, expressing a mixture of excitement and nervousness.
Announcing Leonor's military training in March, Spain's Defence Minister Margarita Robles, said Leonor was one of many young women now signing up to the armed forces.
"In due course, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces will be a woman, and in recent years we have been making a very important effort to incorporate women into the armed forces," Robles said.
The government and the Royal House have agreed Leonor's "very intense" military training will precede her university studies, following in the footsteps of her father in the 1980s.
Persons:
King Felipe, Queen Letizia, Infanta Sofia, Princess Leonor, Vincent West, Leonor, King Felipe VI's, Juan Sebastian de Elcano, Margarita Robles, Robles, Juan Carlos, Sofia, Elena Rodriguez, Aislinn Laing, Christina Fincher
Organizations:
General Military Academy, REUTERS, Rights, Army Military Academy, General Air Academy, Spain's, Royal, Atlantic College, Thomson
Locations:
Zaragoza, Spain, Sofia, Spanish, Wales